P Chidambaram Not to be Arrested By Enforcement Directorate For Now: Supreme Court
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, filed an application seeking direction to the ED to produce the transcripts of the questioning conducted on December 19 last year and January 1 and January 21 this year in the case.
New Delhi, August 27: The Supreme Court bench, headed by Justices R Banumathi and AS Bopanna, granted interim relief to Congress leader P Chidambaram from arrest by the Enforcement Directorate. The agency had sought Chidambaram's custody for his role in the alleged scam involving INX Media case.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, filed an application seeking direction to the ED to produce the transcripts of the questioning conducted on December 19 last year and January 1 and January 21 this year in the case. Chidambaram Arrested by CBI in INX Media Scam Case: Here's All That Happened Before the Dramatic Arrest
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for ED, said he would like to reply to the fresh application during the course of his arguments. The transcripts will show whether Chidambaram was evasive during his questioning, as alleged by the ED, Sibal said.
He also told the bench that the ED cannot place documents in the court randomly and "behind the back" for seeking Chidambaram's custody. "They are just producing documents at random and saying this is part of the case diary," Sibal said, adding, "They cannot place the documents behind the back and seek custody of accused."
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also appearing for Chidambaram, referred to the constitutional and legal provisions and said that fundamental right of citizens under Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) cannot be suspended.
Singhvi argued that the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was amended in 2009 whereas the allegations in the case are of 2007-2008.
"You try and paint a person as a kingpin when these alleged offences did not exist at that time," he told the court during the arguments which will continue in the post lunch session.
The apex court had on Monday extended till Tuesday the protection from arrest given to Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case lodged by the ED.
Chidambaram was the Union minister for finance as also home during the UPA-I and UPA-II government from 2004 to 2014.
The CBI had registered an FIR on May 15, 2017, alleging irregularities in the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance granted to the INX Media group for receiving overseas funds of Rs 305 crore in 2007 during Chidambaram's tenure as the finance minister. Thereafter, the ED lodged a money laundering case against him in 2017.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2019 04:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).